The U. S. Fish
and Wildlife Service has developed a priority system designed to direct its
efforts towards the plants and animals in greatest need of protection.

The magnitude of
threat is the most important consideration, followed by the immediacy of the
threat and the taxonomic distinctiveness of the species (the most
distinctive is a monotypic genus, then a full species, and lastly a
subspecies, variety, or vertebrate population).

In an effort to
continue to address the needs of species facing the greatest threats, the
new priority guidance establishes the following priorities for listing
endangered species:

Priority
One: Emergency listings for species facing a significant risk to their
well-being.

PriorityTwo: Final decisions on pending proposed listings.

PriorityThree: Determining whether candidate species should be listed.

Priority Four: Findings on petitions to add species to the list and petitions to
delist or reclassify species.

Critical habitat
actions such as determining whether it is prudent to designate critical
habitat, proposing to designate critical habitat, and making final
designations of critical habitat will no longer fall under this guidance.
The Service expects to complete a number of critical habitat actions during
FY 2000 which will be funded separately from other listing actions.